Who here has their Pilot's Liscense?
I'm looking into it.... need to be 17 to get the liscense but you can train anytime.
REALLLLY EXPENSIVE
Rental is what kills......$150/hr

Getting it is expensive, keeping it current is expensive, and really, what the heck do you do with the license once you have it? At 150+ bucks an hour to rent a plane plus all the other fees, it's incredibly expensive to just decide to rent a plane for an afternoon and go tooling around. You could always buy your own plane for 50-100k, and then deal with storage fees, maintenance costs, etc.
I have about 60 hours and was just about to test and get my license and then for a variety of reasons I didn't quite finish. (long story)
Have always thought about going back and finishing it, but once I started to really add up the costs... I can't afford to actually go fly on a regular basis, so I never have bothered to finish it off and get my license.

Getting it is expensive, keeping it current is expensive, and really, what the heck do you do with the license once you have it? At 150+ bucks an hour to rent a plane plus all the other fees, it's incredibly expensive to just decide to rent a plane for an afternoon and go tooling around. You could always buy your own plane for 50-100k, and then deal with storage fees, maintenance costs, etc.
I have about 60 hours and was just about to test and get my license and then for a variety of reasons I didn't quite finish. (long story)
Have always thought about going back and finishing it, but once I started to really add up the costs... I can't afford to actually go fly on a regular basis, so I never have bothered to finish it off and get my license.

I'm right there with you. I'd love to have my license but then what?? It's just not approachable if you just want to be a weekend pilot.

Getting it is expensive, keeping it current is expensive, and really, what the heck do you do with the license once you have it? At 150+ bucks an hour to rent a plane plus all the other fees, it's incredibly expensive to just decide to rent a plane for an afternoon and go tooling around. You could always buy your own plane for 50-100k, and then deal with storage fees, maintenance costs, etc.
I have about 60 hours and was just about to test and get my license and then for a variety of reasons I didn't quite finish. (long story)
Have always thought about going back and finishing it, but once I started to really add up the costs... I can't afford to actually go fly on a regular basis, so I never have bothered to finish it off and get my license.

It's just not a good career path these days. Pay is so bad to start, and th airline industry is so unpredictable now. My dad is a 63 year old 777 captain who lost his pension after 9-11... He'll tell you to RUN AWAY!!!

Getting it is expensive, keeping it current is expensive, and really, what the heck do you do with the license once you have it? At 150+ bucks an hour to rent a plane plus all the other fees, it's incredibly expensive to just decide to rent a plane for an afternoon and go tooling around. You could always buy your own plane for 50-100k, and then deal with storage fees, maintenance costs, etc.
I have about 60 hours and was just about to test and get my license and then for a variety of reasons I didn't quite finish. (long story)
Have always thought about going back and finishing it, but once I started to really add up the costs... I can't afford to actually go fly on a regular basis, so I never have bothered to finish it off and get my license.

I stopped at 8 hours, mainly because I was 14 and had to wait 2 years to solo. At that time a 150 was 15.50 and hour and instructor was about 10. 40 hours total to get the license but I think these days there is another license that only takes 20-25 hours.

COOP ownership still the cheapest way to go, then get enough hours to get your instructors license. Your hours pile up and the plane get paid for while you get to fly and teach.

Bivens, Diggity showed me the picture of the 70 being rescued... That plane has character, history, and 9 lives! If it makes it through the winter, it will be retired and the 71 that noll traded me in Knoxville will make an appearance! The 70 will rest in my theater on a large wall of Chicago sports memorabilia, right next to a framed walter payton and derrick rose jersey! That's valuable wall space, the wife is not happy!

The sport pilot lisence is the one that takes less hrs, it also does not require a medical, as long as drivers lisc is valid. And there are light sport aircraft available. Don't think you can fly in class c airspace with it thou